Dear Tom,
?
Hm, interesting.
?
First, it is important to note that the Common Goldeneye breeds in Central Europe. As for?the Barrow's?Goldeneye,?in Europe it is found almost exlusively in Iceland.
?
Personal note--Iceland's the only place I've seen?Barrow's?Goldeneyes?in Europe, that's for sure. By contrast, I have found it pretty easy to find Common Goldeneyes in Scandinavia, and I observed them on the breeding grounds in Bohemia, not?all that far from Austria.?I must say, the one time I got to visit the Salzachauer Vogellehrpfad by Salzburg, I didn't see any waterfowl at all!
?
?The European field guide by Mullarney,? Svensson et al shows the Barrow's Goldeneye? to be a vagrant, even to the British Isles. It is about a once-a-decade rarity in Britain. It stands to reason that it would be rarer still on the?Continent.?The species has not been recorded in Austria or Switzerland, as far as I know, but it is on the checklist for Germany. With waterfolw, of course, there is always the chance for escapees, too.
?
Immature and female goldeneyes can be hard to ID. I am guessing that the methods we use to ID the two species here in the Pacific NW might need some adjustment in Europe, where there is a different subspecies of Common Goldeneye. As far as I know, the Barrow's Goldeneye has not been divided into subspecies, but there are at least variations in bill?color?from population to population.
?
It seems to me that the most likely candidate for the bird in the photo would be Common Goldeneye, even though I must admit the bill does look a bit "steep."
?
Yours truly,
?
Gary Bletsch

Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA

garybletsch at yahoo.com

"Nun," sagte ich, "wenn ich ein Taugenichts bin, so ist's gut, so will ich in die Welt gehen, und mein Glueck machen." Und eigentlich war mir das recht lieb, denn es war mir kurz vorher selber eingefallen, auf Reisen zu gehen, da ich die Goldammer, welche im Herbst und Winter immer betruebt an unserm Fenster sang: "Bauer, miet' mich, Bauer, miet' mich!" nun in der schoenen Fruehlingszeit wieder ganz stolz und lustig vom Baume rufen hoerte: "Bauer, behalt' deinen Dienst!"


>________________________________
> From: Tom Snow <tsnow6065 at gmail.com>
>To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
>Sent: Tuesday, October 2, 2012 12:14 PM
>Subject: [Tweeters] Barrow's Goldeneye in Salzburg, Austria?
>
>
>Greetings from North Carolina.? I thought you all may be able to help identify whether the little guy (girl) I saw on the Salzach River in Salzburg, Austria last week is a female/juvenile Barrow's Goldeneye.? We don't have them here in NC but reading online, it seems you do.? How far from home was this lone bird?
>
>http://tinyurl.com/8plg2bz
>
>Thank you!
>
>Tom Snow
>Raleigh, NC
>
>_______________________________________________
>Tweeters mailing list
>Tweeters at u.washington.edu
>http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>
>
>